Started: 12/08/21
Finished: 23/08/21
Big thank you to Welbeck Publishing for sending me this beast. It's quite an amazing book to own, packed full of pictures and illustrations printed in colour.
Much of the information within is offered in neat bite-sized chunks, making this a perfect read to squeeze in whenever I had a spare moment.
The artwork on the front is stunning, depicting the fall of Isengard as the Ents attack. This would actually make a great coffee table book for any fantasy lover except, y'know, one that actually gets read.
This encyclopedia begins with detailing the varying flavours of fantasy, what components define the fantasy genres, and how fantasy has influenced storytelling and life as a whole since the beginning of time.
I would even recommend this to writers of fantasy as well as readers. This book goes in-depth explaining not just subgenres of fantasy, but fantasy tropes, plot types, character archetypes, and more. It's definitely worth the read for readers and writers alike.
I'd also highly recommend this to any beginner fantasy lovers who want to get into book reviewing. The information on various 'terminology' within the fantasy sphere would be invaluable to anyone unfamiliar with it.
I like that the authors mention how that this is just a starting point and not a full list of subgenres, as not all are mentioned. A few that are excluded from the list--that I can think of--are Low Fantasy, Flintlock Fantasy, Portal Fantasy, and Magical Realism. But I was pleasantly surprised to find a section on Grimdark, one of my favourites in the genre.
I also appreciate that it's mentioned that the list of fantasy writers isn't a complete list. But with that in mind, I would have liked to have seen a bit more variety in the list. Of the 242 or so writers mentioned, only 21 were not American or British, and only 5 of these were non-English speaking natives. When I counted all the female authors, I was impressed to find about 85 present...then realised that 85 out of 242 is only just over a third.
(Of course, this isn't a full list of authors but I can't help but be a little disappointed more women weren't included, considering they exist. Would've loved to have seen V.E. Schwab, R.F. Kuang, Leigh Bardugo, and Anna Stephens on the list too, but hey.)
This list doesn't reflect poorly on the authors or their choices of whom to include but rather perfectly highlights the major flaw of the publishing industry. That unless you're male and/or American or British, breaking into the industry will be a struggle.
The list was very 'English native', and there's plenty of translated works that deserve acknowledgement too. I mean, Andrzej Sapkowski wasn't personally listed at all, and if he hasn't been a major influence in the fantasy genre then I don't know who has been. Maybe this is me being subjective, but I just would've enjoyed a tad more variety.
Also found it a bit odd that Brando Sando--an absolute pillar in the fantasy genre--got barely half a column of recognition in the entire book, and yet JK Rowling--possibly the most controversial woman of the decade--got almost a whole page to herself, not to mention all the movie and other mentions her works got. I'm not going to uncork THAT bottle, but just pointing that this may be a divisive decision for some readers.
Something I really appreciated was the use of 'she' in some of the story-type examples, rather than just assuming all fantasy heroes are men. I'm so used to seeing 'he' be used in fantasy examples that it almost took me by surprised to see the hero of a story being described as 'she'. It's the smallest thing, yet it means so much.
However, I do think that some of the film summaries would have benefitted from being a little more objective. Personal biases take over and become outright shade. A few times it felt like I was just reading passages for pieces of fantasy media I enjoy being slagged off simply cause the authors didn't like it. That's not to say they aren't absolutely entitled to their opinions, but just a neat little summary and a fun fact would've sufficed.
But in conclusion, this book is a love letter to fantasy written with care by someone who truly appreciates the nuances of the genre.
To this day there are still literally snobs who treat fantasy as a lesser form of storytelling, but you only read this book to learn that fantasy is one of the first, oldest, and original forms of storytelling, long before the invention of books or technology. As Terry Pratchett suggests in the foreword, in all likelihood, fantasy stories were the first thing created by proto-humans after the discovery of fire.
Of course, this can't be confirmed. It's mere speculation. But who's to say cavemen didn't sit around swapping stories in their primitive way about where they thought lightning came from?
The fantasy genre has had such influence on society, religion, and culture, whatever culture that may be.
"We are creatures of fantasy. We spend a lot of time in that huge ghost world with the bright colours, and one part of it is now called civilization."
Fantasy is not only a cornerstone of storytelling but also of life as we know it today.
Sounds dramatic?
It's true. You only need to read this book to see that.
"By the standards of our ancestors, we are sorcerers, able to conjure up knowledge or transport or food with just a few gestures, or some careful phrases."
Comments